Memorandum submitted by Torbay Council
INTRODUCTION
Our response to the Business and Enterprise
Committee enquiry reflects the fact that Torbay Council has become
very aware of community feelings and of the huge importance of
post offices to them during the Post Office Network Change Programme
that came to Devon in February 2008 and in which we have
taken a very active role.
Our involvement included supporting local campaigns
to keep individual post offices open within Torbay and working
with the other Devon Councils (County and ten districts) to ensure
the proposals and the strength of feeling across the whole county
formed a part of our response to and negotiations with Post Office
Ltd (POL).
We are very happy to work with the Committee
on any further issues they might wish to explore and to host a
site visit to aid their work.
1. What services should the Post Office offer,
from government
The full range of government services has diminished
over the years including the loss of the giro cheque and TV licensing.
Through the post office card account, people can access many of
their state benefits and this supports sound financial management
for people on low incomes as they can pay utilities bills at the
same outlet and at the same time.
In Torbay over 36% of residents do not have
access to a home computer to effect on line transactions and up
to 60% choose to use post offices for DVLA car licensing rather
than on line renewals.
We believe that the full range of services should
be offered to post offices so that residents have the choice enabling
them to have a life style that improves financial well being.
In the current economic climate and in the longer
term it is essential to encourage people to save via National
Savings and Investments and to pay their bills once they access
benefits and post offices have a pivotal role to play in furthering
this through the range of services including TV licensing. To
bring services to local people at the access points they want
will also have a positive effect in reducing crime and disorder.
We should be aware that post offices not only serve neighbouring
residents and businesses but that many individuals travel to work
and use post offices near their places of employment.
We also understand that POL negotiates contracts
with government agencies without consultation with post masters
and this produces a position where some post offices offer some
services such as car licensing and others are unable to. This
is confusing for customers and so we also recommend that all post
offices should be able to operate on a level playing field and
have the opportunity to offer all services in a facility that
is fit for the twenty first century.
from local authorities
Torbay Council is exploring partnership working
with post offices with reference to the pilot schemes in Camden,
Lambeth and Sedgemoor where post offices are commissioned to deliver
consultation exercises, meet Housing benefit intervention targets
and inform and communicate to residents. The pilots show a much
higher rate of return for consultation and Benefits communications
and the councils and post offices involved both conclude that
people are more comfortable in giving information to and dealing
with post offices rather than with local authorities. The benefits
are that councils can meet their targets more easily and footfall
is increased in the post offices that often have retail outlets
so everybody benefits,
This is in line with the desire of the South
Devon federation of sub post masters who would rather have viable
businesses than the Essex or Devon County models where direct
support grants are made. It is clear that no one size fits all
and the needs of one particular community or neighbourhood will
not reflect all of them.
At present, Torbay Council barcodes its Council
Tax and Business Rates bills so that they can be paid at any post
office at no cost to the payee and is developing the facility
for all bills and penalty charge notices to be paid in this way.
We are looking to explore a pilot on a wider
basis with a selection of post offices such as information portals,
delivery of some services and outreach facilities such as reporting
changes.
As well as supporting residents and visitors,
Councils also need to support small businesses so we believe that
in the interests of social cohesion and developing stronger communities
all options should be explored. In this way the council can achieve
required efficiencies in service delivery by making use of a network
already in place as well as supporting post offices.
from other sources, including services in competition
with Royal Mail Group
There is a requirement from POL that post offices
do not engage in trade or services that compete with their own.
An example of this is that in working with the Community banking
service and credit union in Torbay, we wished to employ post offices
as collection points for savings, or loan repayments and pay outs
as they are very convenient for our customers. Post masters were
in principal, willing to take this up but POL will not allow it
because it is in competition with services they offer.
We believe, having gathered the views of post
masters locally that the shackles should be taken off and post
offices should be allowed to compete in the open market without
the loss of any goodwill in their relationship with Royal Mail
Group.
Post masters would especially like to undertake
more business banking by dealing with business cheques and extending
the range of partner banks and we have evidence from supporting
our community campaigns that small businesses find post offices
more convenient to use because of their proximity, availability,
parking and opening hours rather than the banks that often mean
closing the business to deal with.
2. How much account should be taken of?
(a) costs to the taxpayer in providing
services through the Post Office rather than through cheaper channels;
and
Putting any cost to the tax payer in context,
current government thinking has incurred huge costs in baling
out the banking system and citizens are seeing only limited benefit
from this. Citizens do receive real and personal benefits from
their post offices which are often the focal point of communities
and Torbay Council believes that we cannot afford the social cost
of losing the post office network.
Hazel Blears paper "Communities in Control"
2008 endorses strengthening communities by ensuring they
meet the needs of the residents and post offices can play a pivotal
role in both rural and urban areas especially where other local
shops or meeting places such as public houses have closed.
(b) consumer preference for alternative
channels?
Consumers like choice in how they conduct their
business and although a percentage prefers to use on line or self
service transactions, many prefer to go to the post office. Torbay
has very high numbers of older people and this is set to increase
and a trip to the post office represents some social intercourse,
means more active pensioners and provides some social support
in what can be a confusing modern world.
Many of our small businesses use post offices
for banking, mail order & parcel dispatch and it also gives
them the opportunity to raise awareness of local issues.
Residents with learning disabilities or those
with dyslexia are able to conduct their business with support
from post masters giving them a degree of independence when they
could not manage self service or on line transactions.
We believe it is government departments rather
than consumers who have a preference for alternative channels
3. To what extent would the desire for the
presence of a Post Office or Post Office services translate into
actual use of those services?
Evidence in Torbay suggests that with the media
awareness of the threat of losing post offices and the campaigns
to keep them, transactions have increased significantly in the
two that were saved.
If all post offices could offer all services,
this would increase further. There is huge public confidence in
the post office and many citizens have transferred their savings
and banking to them as a result of the current loss of trust in
the banks.
4. What are the impacts of the availability
of post office facilities for businesses and local residents;
and in particular how significant is the network in aiding social
and financial inclusion?
Any further loss of the network would have a
profound effect on residents and businesses. For example, the
main post office in Torquay has recently been integrated into
a branch of W H Smith. There is no parking within half a mile
and it is located in a pedestrian precinct which limits access.
Based on the first floor, the lift will not accommodate a wheel
chair further limiting its use. People rely heavily on their sub
post offices.
The network is extremely significant in aiding
social and financial inclusion for the following reasons:
— Support to aid those challenged by learning
disabilities, those for whom English is not a first language or
older people to conduct their business independently.
— Sound financial management for people
on low incomes who can access their state benefits and pay their
bills at one point or in one transaction leaving less chance of
incurring debts.
— A local focal point in the community
where people can meet each other and find out about issues that
affect them.
— An unofficial alert system that post
masters operate for customers who have not been seen when expected
to be. With large numbers living alone, this is very important
for health and well being.
— Access and parking for the physically
disabled.
Anecdotally, one of our sub post offices that
was threatened with closure is in a street of mixed retail shops
plus a doctor's surgery and has a high older population. It is
common for hundreds of people to make a day out of their trip
to the post office—getting their pension, doing their shopping,
visiting the hair dresser or chiropodist, aligning their GP appointment
and having coffee or lunch in the caf
.
Closure of such a branch would have a detrimental
effect on all of these businesses.
A further important facet to consider is the
green agenda. With local post office branches, many citizens are
less likely to need their cars to do their business and can walk
or use public transport to do their business, contributing to
the desired reduction in the carbon footprint.
5. What level of subsidy-if any—per
Post Office would be reasonable in the long term; for example,
should it be £20,000 or £200,000?
We have gathered the views of sub post masters
and considered schemes such as Essex Works or the Devon County
support model and considered the current level of government funding
to 2011 in coming to our view.
We welcome the fact that the council supported
schemes have enabled postal services to remain open in communities
that would have otherwise lost them but not all councils can afford
such investment and government subsidy should be available.
We also take account of sub post masters opinions
in that they would rather have POL shackles taken off without
loss of goodwill to enable them to become viable commercial businesses
without grant aid, fit for the twenty first century. A review
of POL management arrangements is to be encouraged as central
strategy often seems to be working against the network rather
than for it with complex measures of success and a lack of transparency.
As far as current government subsidy goes, the
current allocation to 2011 is a drop in the ocean compared
to the amounts being invested in financial institutions.
For the future, in some cases the social cost
of the loss needs to be considered especially in isolated communities
and subsidies targeted towards that but in the majority of cases,
we support business advice and pump priming at appropriate levels
to enable the post offices to thrive independently and this could
take up to £200,000 in some cases.
January 2009
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